My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 88 Collect interest first (Subscription required)

The Chu army was busy taking the time to rest and regroup, while vigorously promoting the system of rewarding military merits, while the Han camp was busy conferring titles and making promises, and appeasing important generals. The two major camps were busy with their own things, and thus they stopped fighting at the same time and entered a period of calm confrontation.

So in this late autumn season, after a brutal battle under the city of Gaixia, a rare period of peace strangely arrived.

During this period, Liu Bang used all his strength to appease these old bastards and old troublemakers who followed him to conquer the world. It must be said that none of these old bastards and old troublemakers are good people!
Back then, they risked being executed along with their entire clans, and resolutely followed Liu Bang in his rebellion. They were a group of desperate men. They had fought dozens of bloody battles, big and small, and which one of them had not made outstanding military achievements? Those who were able to survive and emerge from the crowds of people, which one of them was an easy person to deal with?

Now that they saw that the Chu was about to be extinguished and the Han was about to rise in its place, they naturally became restless. Who wouldn't want to take a piece of the juicy food in the upcoming feast of rewards and rewards?
Originally, they were not so anxious. After all, although Da Chu was about to die, it had not yet died.

However, the Overlord's divine assistance and the act of enthroning them as princes opened the Pandora's box in their hearts, causing them to have different thoughts.

From their perspective, who wouldn't want to rule a place and be the king? Especially if their military exploits were outstanding enough, they were indeed qualified to be crowned!

It is true that this empire was conquered under the leadership of Liu Bang, but everyone contributed. Why should you, the supreme emperor, and we should be slaves, servants, ministers and generals?

Just because you, Liu Laosan, were born because your mother was fucked by a snake? After starting the rebellion, you killed the white snake, and your head is covered with blue clouds. Is this the destiny?
You have been stealing chickens and dogs together since you were young, kicking widows' doors, digging graves of extinct families, who the hell doesn't know who? Isn't it just your mother who cheated on you, and you are not your father's child? As for the drunken killing of the white snake and the hooded Qingyun, weren't they just made up by your brothers?

None of us is a good person, so let's not pretend to be like this!
When you hunt a deer, you are the boss, and you eat the body, and everyone has no objection. You should at least let your brothers eat a few bites of the legs, tail, horns and other corners, right? Now you want to keep it all for yourself, and you just pluck a few hairs and throw them to your brothers to fool them, but aren't you too cruel?
Liu Bang hated enfeoffment of princes, and as their trusted ministers, they all knew it, but they had been suppressed by Liu Bang in the past and could do nothing about it.

Now, faced with this godsend opportunity, I can't help but feel eager to take action.

As for the enthronement of Xiang Yu, the conditions were not mature enough for them at the moment, and there were too many uncontrollable factors, so they did not have the ability to turn against Liu Bang and establish their own regime.

Then, I can continue to remain loyal to the Han Dynasty. However, I love the Han Dynasty, but who will love me? The Han Dynasty can't just not show any sign of gratitude, right? How can it show gratitude? Can it make me a vassal king? Wouldn't that be the best of both worlds?
Therefore, the situation that Liu Bang faced during this period was that a group of old bastards and troublemakers united together and almost openly asked him for the title of king.

But I have to say that this old rogue Liu Bang really has some great skills!
With the strategy planned by Zhang Liang as a foundation, he felt confident and during the implementation process he used methods such as winning over, making promises, and intimidation, using both kindness and force, and even coaxing and deceiving, and finally managed to calm down this group of old bastards and troublemakers one by one!
This is also the difference between a counselor and a commander.

A strategist may be able to come up with thousands of practical, comprehensive and good plans, but he ultimately does not have the powerful realization ability of a coach to implement them without fail and ultimately turn the unreal blueprint into a beautiful reality!

After settling a group of old troublemakers and getting their promise to continue to be loyal and serve as generals with all their strength to attack the Chu State, he also transferred the soldiers under the command of important generals such as Cao Shen.

Finally, this worry was completely solved. Liu Bang did not hesitate and hurriedly found Han Xin to ask when to send troops to continue the attack on Gaixia and destroy the Chu in one fell swoop!
In response, Han Xin flatly refused.

"Your Majesty, we have lost the best opportunity to destroy Chu, so we should not take the initiative to fight! After this period of rest, Chu has received food and fodder support from Ying Bu's army and Zhou Yin's army, and has also obtained a lot of spoils from our Han army. The soldiers are well-fed and well-equipped, and have fully recovered to their peak condition! If we take the initiative to fight them now, the Chu army has Gaixia City to rely on, and Zhou Yin's army and Ying Bu's army as two wings, and it will be difficult to destroy them in a hurry. Even if we win by chance, my Han army will probably suffer heavy losses. At present, there are only a few of the more than 200,000 elite soldiers left."

Liu Bang naturally had no doubts about Han Xin's military strategy. Upon hearing this, he sat down on his desk, lifted up his robe, and scratched the scarred and itchy wound on his arm, his old face full of resentment:
"What should we do? Can we let the Chu army continue to rest like this? When will we be able to destroy them and let the people who have suffered from the war have a chance to take a breath and recuperate?"

Han Xin's lips curled up slightly, and he smiled proudly: "Your Majesty is confused by the situation! Right now, time is on our side. The one who is really anxious about the war situation should not be your Majesty, but Xiang Yu's Chu."

Han Xin asked a soldier to hang up the current map of the world's territory, and pointed at it and talked:

"Your Majesty, please see that the Great Chu has lost all its territory. With the surrender of Zhou Yin, the land of the old Chu has also fallen into our control. Although the Great Chu army has gained a precious breathing space for a short time and seems to have a chance to restore the glory of the Great Chu, it is actually just a tree without roots, a dying charcoal and a remaining fire, and it will not last long."

Upon hearing this, Liu Bang suddenly became alert: "What do you mean? General, please explain it to me."

"The biggest problem facing the Chu army is that they have no food or fodder to replenish. Once the current food and fodder is gone, where will they get more? Moreover, the weather is getting colder and winter is coming, which is even more unfavorable for fighting. The Chu army is trapped in an isolated city. If they don't fight, they will collapse. So it's not us who are anxious right now, but Xiang Yu, the great Overlord of Chu!"

Liu Bang suddenly came to his senses and was no longer worried about speeding up the battle and making sure the people of the world could live and work in peace and contentment as soon as possible. He smiled and said, "I understand what the general means. We can hold the Chu army back here. If we hold them back for a while, we can delay them until they collapse."

"This is just our wishful thinking. Overlord will not give us the opportunity to hold them back. As I expected, the Chu army will surely go out in full force in the next few days and take the initiative to fight. Of course, this is exactly what I want. As long as the Chu army leaves the city and loses the protection of the city wall, it will be the day of his complete defeat!"

Han Xin's eyes were as cold as swords and arrows, and his words were as sonorous as iron, full of strong confidence and determination.

Han Xin was best at mobile field warfare, and hated siege warfare, which was unskillful and high in casualties. Looking back at the battles he commanded, he rarely took the initiative to attack a city, but always lured or forced the enemy out of the city and then completely defeated them in field battles.

Even now, facing the powerful Overlord of Western Chu, he, who was extremely confident in his own military tactics, still disdained to attack the city. He waited patiently for the Overlord to lead the Chu army to actively seek battle, and then took advantage of his rest to destroy the Overlord by repeating his old tricks in one fell swoop!
Liu Bang was overjoyed. He stood up, patted Han Xin on the back, and said generously: "With the general here, what else do I have to worry about? General, just let go and do what you want. This time, I will be in charge of the central army with you. If there are any generals who dare to disobey orders again, I will kill them myself without your help!"

When Chen Ping walked into Liu Bang's tent with an excited heart and trembling hands, the old Liu Bang was already drunk.

He was lying on a soft couch, nestled in the arms of a concubine, with another maid massaging his legs. He was drinking fine wine and admiring the dancing of several concubines in the tent.

Chen Ping was not surprised by this scene. He was surprised when Liu Bang could behave properly and keep the noble elegance and dignity like Xiang Yu. Seeing Chen Ping walking quickly and bowing, although he was a little reluctant, Liu Bang still sat up straight, waved his hand to let the maid leave, and said to Chen Ping in a drunken state:

"Captain Chen is here, do you have any good news to tell me?"

This is Liu Bang. Although he loves beauty and pleasure, when it comes to serious matters, he can immediately break free and put the serious matters first.

At this time, the injury of his spiritual mentor and beloved Zhang Liang had not improved but became more serious. Worried, Liu Bang carried him in an ox cart and sent a large army to escort him back to Hanzhong for recuperation. Chen Ping then replaced Zhang Liang and became his first adviser.

Chen Ping's intelligence and strategy were among the best in the Han army. Even Zhang Liang, who was born into an aristocratic family and had great strategies, could not hide him, allowing him to stand out in front of Liu Bang.

But with Zhang Liang around, he would never be the first counselor in Liu Bang's mind. In the history books of previous lives, Chen Ping was truly trusted by Liu Bang, played a role, and demonstrated his extraordinary wisdom and talent only after the establishment of the Han Dynasty and Zhang Liang retired and stopped managing affairs.

Now Zhang Liang was accidentally shot by an arrow and had to recuperate, but the accident allowed him to take the position ahead of schedule.

"Your Majesty, after you presented a generous gift to the Lieutenant General Ding Gu of the Chu Army and expressed your wish to get close to him, you never thought that he would actually agree to our request and be willing to join us secretly."

Hearing Chen Ping's words, Liu Bang was overjoyed. He clapped his hands, laughed and said "good" several times, and his drunkenness dissipated a little.

During this period, Liu Bang adopted Han Xin's advice, calmed down, and guarded the camp like a coward, as if he would retreat until the end of time if the Chu army did not take the initiative to attack.

Of course, he couldn't just sit there and do nothing. He not only tried every possible means to find out all the military information in the Chu camp, but also implemented Chen Ping's proposal to bribe the generals and officials of the Chu camp in the previous military meeting without hesitation. He not only secretly gave Chen Ping a million gold, but also provided him with the name of a general in the Chu camp who might be bribed.

This person is naturally the Ding Gu that Chen Ping is talking about.

Liu Bang slammed the wine jar on the table and sneered, "This bastard must be sensible, otherwise I will kill him after I destroy the Chu army."

Chen Ping, who was standing aside, was puzzled. Xiang Yu had innumerable generals under his command, including many important generals of the level of Xiang Sheng and Zhongli Mei. How could a small General of the Central Army like Ding Gu, who had no reputation and no name, catch the eye of Liu Bang and be judged to have ulterior motives for the Great Chu and be bribed?
Chen Ping didn't know that the reason why Liu Bang knew Ding Gu was that in the Battle of Pengcheng, he was defeated by Xiang Yu and fled like a stray dog. Xiang Yu issued a hunt and kill him, and the generals of the Chu State hunted him like crazy. It was this Lieutenant General Ding Gu who was lucky enough to catch up with him.

Originally, there was no way Liu Bang could escape this disaster, and the conflict between Han and Chu would have come to an end at that moment. However, who would have thought that after Liu Bang's pleading, General Ding Gu unexpectedly let him go.

If that were all, shouldn't Liu Bang be grateful to General Ding Gu and remember him forever? However, what is puzzling is that, perhaps out of a mean mentality, Ding Gu was not so happy to let Liu Bang escape, but did something unspeakable to Liu Bang - he made Liu Bang, the dignified King of Han and a great man who could be compared with the King of Western Chu, dismount and kneel down to beg him, insulting and despising himself for a long time before he was satisfied and let him go.

Therefore, although Liu Bang escaped with his life, he hated him to the core.

It has to be said that there really is such a kind of villain in the world, whose own talent is not enough to stir up the storm and stand at the forefront, but who has a dark heart and likes to humiliate the big figures who are high above and in the spotlight, in order to show that he is more powerful than them.

Cutting off eggs to worship gods - ruining one's body and disgracing gods, this was the consequence of Ding Gu's behavior of releasing Liu Bang privately and humiliating him extremely.

This also shows that Liu Bang was an extreme pragmatist. As long as someone was useful to him, he would not care even if he had been extremely humiliated in the past and hated the person to the core, and he could even buy the person off with generous gifts and humble words.

If this happened to Xiang Yu, he wouldn't even think about it.

"Is his surrender sincere? It can't be a counter-espionage plot arranged by that kid Xiang Chang?" Liu Bang thought of Xiang Chang's previous sinister tactics, especially the incident in which he used Xiang Ju to shoot him with a cold arrow, which almost killed him on the spot. He couldn't help but ask cautiously.

Chen Ping nodded slowly and said solemnly, "I have found out that Xiang Chang has been promoting the Qin military merit system in the Chu army. This Lieutenant General Ding Gu, who comes from an old Chu noble family, was very dissatisfied with this and started to make trouble. Xiang Chang taught him a lesson in public and demoted him by two levels." After a pause, Chen Ping lowered his voice and said, "In addition, Ding Gu also handed in a letter of surrender and told us the top secrets of the Chu army camp that he knew!"

Liu Bang suddenly became alert and asked anxiously, "What top secret?"

Chen Ping took out a small jar from his bosom and presented it to Liu Bang with both hands: "This thing is called 'poison-clearing medicine'. It is said that it was developed by Xiang Chang's son by distilling fine wine. Using this thing to clean the wounds of wounded soldiers can greatly reduce the mortality rate of wounded soldiers and help them recover from their injuries in the shortest time and return to the barracks."

Liu Bang was overjoyed when he heard this. He took the jar and opened it carefully. He stretched out his high nose bridge and sniffed it lightly, but did not dare to taste it for the sake of caution. However, a strong and pungent smell of wine, which was much stronger than the fine wine he had drunk before, rushed out, making the drunkenness on his face become stronger.

Liu Bang was so happy that his face was dancing with joy. He was so drunk that he even started to dance with joy:
"What a strong wine! Well, it can greatly reduce the mortality rate of wounded soldiers. This is a good thing and is very beneficial to boosting morale. In this case, let's do it and distill it. It seems that this guy is really sincere in surrendering to us by offering this treasure. Damn it, once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of ropes for ten years. Xiang Ji's brat is full of tricks and makes me suspicious!"

"Captain Chen, you have performed a great deed again this time! Hahahaha, that kid never thought that the 'poison-clearing medicine' he worked so hard to develop would fall into our hands and be easily plucked by us. I wonder if he would be so angry that his teeth would break when he heard the news? I really want to see the kid's expression when he heard the news. You have taught him a good lesson, and also avenged me and Zifang for the arrow that shot him that day!"

Liu Bang had suffered repeated defeats at the hands of Xiang Chang before, but now Xiang Chang saw that the treasure that he had spent so much effort to develop was easily seized by him. Liu Bang couldn't help but feel as if he had gotten rid of his anger and was very happy.

(End of this chapter)